Revised as of
30 Mar 2023
When I first got into the exclamation mark, I figured it would be a slam dunk. Ha! The more I explored, the more I was reminded of all the ways in which we use ! And I use most of ’em!
In general, avoid using it in formal, academic, or newspaper writing. It’s quite acceptable in informal writing while all sorts of variations exist in the very informal.
Lately, its use in very informal writing has become almost a requirement — including its combined forms of !!, !!!!!! *grin*, !?, and ?! — all of which convey your thoughts or feelings about what you’ve written.
The Properly Punctuated explores . . .
. . . the proper use of quotation marks, commas, semicolons, colons, ellipsis, etc., including how to properly mark dialog, ahem. As Properly Punctuated is in no way complete, I would appreciate suggestions and comments from anyone on punctuation with which you struggle or on which you can contribute more understanding.
If you found this post on “Exclamation Mark” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.
| Exclamation Mark, ! | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Punctuation: ! | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Definition: Put at the end of an emphatic declaration, interjection, command, or indicate high volume. It can also be repeated or combined with a question mark to convey emotion.
CAUTION: Best to avoid using this in formal writing, including academics and newspaper writing. |
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A.k.a. exclamation point |
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| Basic | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Strong Feeling Raised Voice |
Rule: Ends a sentence indicating surprise, joy, fear, or any other extreme emotion. Be aware that its use can emulate shouting or raising your voice. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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“I hate you, you bastard!” she cried.
This book is incredible! “Did you see that?” he asked. “That dog was amazing!” |
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| Dialogue | Rule: If an exclamation mark is used to end a sentence within quotation marks, do not use a comma.
For greater detail, read the post on “Dialogue“. |
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| Interjection | Definition: A short utterance that usually expresses emotion and is capable of standing alone. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Hi, babe! What’s happenin’? Oh, no! Help, help! Surprise! |
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| Non-Question Sentence | Rule: A non-question sentence is often an exclamation and requires an exclamation mark. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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What a great book! How stupid can you be! Can you believe what they did! |
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| Programming | Rule: Used for a variety of reasons in computer programming:
A.k.a. bang |
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background: #c9de96 !important;
A != B means “A is not equal to B” !A means “the logical negation of A” (also called “not A”) The “#!” is usually called a hash-bang or shebang. |
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| Proper Names | Rule: When used as part of a proper name, treat the exclamation mark as you would treat the rest of the name, except if you end a sentence with it. Then use that as the ending punctuation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Part of a Name | Rule: Treat an exclamation mark in the same way you treat the name, think of it as that name’s ending letter. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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I’m using Yahoo! mail.
I used to work at Yahoo! My cousin lives in Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! in Canada. |
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| Part of a Title | Rule: If an exclamation mark is part of an italicized or underlined title, the exclamation mark is also italicized or underlined.
CAUTION: If the exclamation mark is NOT part of an italicized or underlined title, don’t italicize or underline it. |
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My favorite book is Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
I’ve asked you not to sing La Marseillaise! Pink’s Greatest Hits… So Far!!! was released in 2010. |
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| Informal Writing | |||||||||||||||||||||
| VERY Informal Writing | Rule: Personal letters, notes, text messages, and/or emails sometimes use multiple exclamation marks. These days, it’s considered polite to use an exclamation mark as it indicates to the person you’re sending the message to that you’re excited about it or them. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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C u there!!
You have got to check out this link!!! |
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| Bangorrhea | Definition: “The overuse of exclamation points in a vain and failing attempt to make your writing sound more exciting.” Dang, and here I thought I was only conveying my own emotional state about what I was writing… | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Can you believe this?!!
OMIGOD!!!!! |
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| Emphasize a Sound | Rule: An exclamation mark will often accompany imitated sounds. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Jean loves waking up in the morning, listening to the birds chirp! and tweet! their hearts out.
“The bear went grr!, and I went left.” |
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| Emphasize a Word | Rule: Insert an exclamation mark within parentheses to emphasize a word within a sentence.
NOTE: There is no space between the last letter of the emphasized word and the starting parenthesis. CAUTION: Do NOT use in formal text. |
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There’s a sale(!) on cashmere sweaters at Nordstrom’s. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Interabang, ‽ | Rule: ?! and !? are used to express some question, excitement, surprise, or disbelief, depending upon the order in which the punctuation marks are used (Barnes):
While the ‽ (‽) is available, its use is very infrequent with preference going to the ?! or the !? A.k.a. interrobang |
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The chess notations, ?! indicates an iffy move while !? indicates a risky yet interesting move. |
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| Irony, ⸮ (⸮) | Definition: Reversed question mark used at the end of a question that does not require an answer. Its use died out in the 17th century.
You may want to explore the post, “Figure of Speech: Irony” for a different perspective. A.k.a. rhetorical question mark |
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That’ll work⸮ You’re so clever⸮ |
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| Warning | Rule: Emphasize a precautionary statement that draws attention to a warning of danger, hazards, or the unexpected. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| In comic books and comics in general, a large exclamation point is often used near or over a character’s head to indicate surprise. | |||||||||||||||||||||
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Properly Punctuated posts on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, Word Confusions, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Exclamation Mark
Barnes, Nancy Owens. “Exclamation Mark: Its Use and Abuse!” Writing North Idaho. Nov 2012. Web. 15 Aug 2015. <http://writingnorthidaho.blogspot.com/2012/11/exclamation-mark-its-use-and-abuse.html>.
“Exclamation.” Capital Community College Foundation. n.d. Web. n.d. <http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/exclamation.htm>.
“Exclamation Mark.” Punctuation. Writing. Learn English. EnglishClub. n.d. Web. n.d. <https://www.englishclub.com/writing/punctuation-exclamation-mark.htm>.
“Exclamation Mark.” Wikipedia. n.d. Web. n.d. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclamation_mark>.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Antsy is wearing his hard hat ’cause you never know when an exciting moment will happen!
